The Lawrence University Committee on Honors was established by a faculty vote in April of 1941. This vote further specified that in order to qualify for honors at graduation, students had to enroll in a six-credit honors course to be completed during their senior year. The Committee on Honors would evaluate the work of each student at the end of the course, and any student receiving at least a B grade would be eligible for honors. The level of honors would be determined by the student’s cumulative grade point average. After several years, all evaluations of honor projects involved a three-hour oral examination conducted by the Committee in addition to the completion of a thesis paper.

In April of 1961, the faculty voted to separate honors recognition at graduation into two categories: honors achieved in general scholarship, based on cumulative grade point averages; and honors achieved through the completion of thesis projects. At present, this system for honors recognition remains in place.

The Committee on Honors has included anywhere from four to ten faculty members each year, charged with the primary task of “[recommending] to the Faculty, students for honors in course or independent study, criteria for honors, and procedures that students must follow for honors in independent study” (Faculty Handbook, 2010). Individual members serve as representatives of the committee at the oral examination of each honors candidate.

Restrictions: Content from the "General materials" folders is restricted for 20 years from the date of creation.

Rights: Property rights reside with Lawrence University. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the University Archivist.

Acquisition Note:
Materials appear to have been donated annually by the chair of the committee.

Related Materials:
Paper copies of all projects awarded honors by the Committee on Honors are available for research in the Lawrence University Archives. Digital copies of projects awarded honors from 2012 onward are accessible from Lux, the Lawrence University institutional repository.For more information please see http://lux.lawrence.edu/luhp/.

Scope and Contents: This collection is comprised of the records of the Lawrence University Committee on Honors, one of the standing committees of the faculty, established in 1941. The bulk of the collection documents decisions made by the committee on the awarding of honors for departmental honors projects completed by senior students from 1941 to the present. Records include statements of intent to complete an honors project, submitted by students, as well as detailed oral examination evaluation reports. Also included are committee meeting minutes and memoranda.